


You are my son (shine)

by wallpaperflower



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adorable Peter Parker, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Gunshot Wounds, How Do I Tag, Hurt Peter Parker, M/M, Other, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Song Lyrics, Swearing, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Whump, Worried Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-14 03:51:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21009272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallpaperflower/pseuds/wallpaperflower
Summary: Tony loves his kid. Biological or not, he loves him as his own.OrAll the reasons Tony loves Peter, with his reasons put into a song.





	You are my son (shine)

**Author's Note:**

> Based off the song “You are my sunshine” 
> 
> Pls read! It gets better and better towards the end. (This is my first fic)

——

_ you are my sunshine _

——

For as long as Tony Stark has lived, he was convinced he had done nothing right. His MIT days were filled with drinking and women. He only cared about himself, and didn't attempt to care about anyone else, with the exception of Rhodey, Pepper and Happy.

So why the  _ hell _ did the world grant to him Peter Parker?

Peter Parker, an innocent, pure, young, sweet, brilliant kid, with kind eyes and an even kinder heart. A kid with a smile that would make you feel like you hung the stars in the sky for him.

The best kid Tony had ever met.

Tony thinks how Peter would walk into the lab with a bright smile on his face, ready to work. How he would often start off every 'lab day' by saying "hey mr stark!" Or "what's up, Mr. stark?" How when he got so excited to work on his web shooters or on an iron man suit. When he would beg his aunt to stay longer to finish a project. And how he would make every lab day better for Tony whenever he was there.

He was the light to Tony's darkness.

_ —— _

_ my only sunshine _

——

Peter had been hesitant to ask if Tony wanted to come to his decathlon competition. Sure, Tony had said before if Peter ever had a competition, he would be glad to go, but Peter wasn't.... buying it. I mean, don't get him wrong, Peter knew the man would go if he invited him, but he just was.... how do you even explain it?

He was nervous. And shy. And a little embarrassed. I mean, come on. This isn't like asking your parents (which Peter didn't have) to go to this. This is asking Tony  _ freaking  _ Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist... to go to a kid's stupid school activity. Peter was not about to ask him to this. But there he was, sitting at his desk in the lab, about to ask the question. So many thoughts were going through his head.

_ What should I say if he says no? _

_ Should ask casually or coolly? _

_ How should I ask? Like, "Hey, Mr stark, do you wanna go to my decathlon meet this Saturday? I'm gonna be in it." _

_ Well of course your gunna be in it, dumbass, that's why you're asking him. _

Then Tony bursts him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, kid, come back to the land of the living, why don't cha? I'm kinda getting lonely here without your usual rambling." Tony says.

"Oh, sorry Mr. Stark." Peter sheepishly replies, hiding his face by looking back down to his homework.

"Alright" Tony starts. "Something is clearly on your mind that you're not telling me. So spill."

"Well um- I-uh" Peter pauses and shyly looks up at the man.

Tony raises his eyebrows, waiting for a response.

"I have a- uh- a decathlon competition this Saturday... it's nationals... I was wondering if maybe, and you don't have to either is 100% a-okay, perfectly perfect if you don't want to-"

"Pete," Tony interrupts. "If you're asking me if I want to go, I do." Tony said with a small, kind smile on his face.

"You do?" Peter asks quietly, internally kicking himself for how high his voice rose.

"Yep" Tony replied, popping the 'p'. "Is aunt hottie gonna be there too?" Tony said with a smirk on his face.

"Ew, gross me stark! That's just.... nasty! She's my aunt... Oh my god stop-" Peter then makes full eye contact, and immediately wishes he hadn't. _ " _ Get that dopey grin off your face right now!"

Tony laughed.

It was one of those laughs where its loud and carefree. Where you don't care who hears it. Tony loved those kinds of laughs, but rarely had it happen to him.

"But no, she's not gonna be there. She has to work an extra shift." Peter said.

"Alright. I'll be there." Peter smiled. "Now." Tony said as he clapped his hands together. "I'm hungry. And if I'm hungry, then your starving. And I'm thinking pizza. You thinking pizza?" Tony asks.

"I-" Peter starts.

"Great! Pizza it is." Tony replies, with a grin on his face, as he walks out of the lab to put in their pizza order.

Peter huffs a laugh and rolls his eyes, but doesn't argue.

~

Saturday finally rolls around, and to say that Peter was nervous was an understatement. They're about to go on stage and peter isn't sure what he's more nervous about.

  1. That they're in nationals for this year.

Or

  1. That Tony Stark is literally somewhere in the crowd, watching him.

Mr. Harrison cuts him out of his trance.

"Alright, guys. This is it. Nationals. Now remember, just do your best, and have fun. That's the important thing." Mr Harrison says awkwardly. "Miss Jones, would you like to add anything?"

M.J. Eyes the group, and casually says, "Don't screw this up, losers."

And, wow, like that helped at all. It just added to all the stress and anxiety adding up inside of the teen.

Peter and his team are called onstage. While walking out, Peter skims the crowd, looking for his mentor. Sure enough, towards the back, stood Tony Stark in a baseball cap, hoodie and jeans. When Tony catches sight of Peter, he frantically waves his arms, and holds two big thumbs up.

Peter smiles and blushes a bit, and gives a small wave back.

They all take their seats and the competition begins.

~

It's been going good so far, but the teams are neck and neck. Both teams are anxious and sweating bullets. The judge speaks.

"This is the last question. Whomever gets it correct, wins the championship."

Peter takes a shuddering breath to calm himself down.

"The "Periodic Table" we use today has the elements arranged according to their what?" The judge asks.

In the blink of an eye, Peter presses the button.  _ Oh god. I hope I'm right. Ohgodohgodohgod, _ Peter thinks. His team looks at him, with worried and hopeful eyes.

"Midtown Tech?" The judge asks, referring for their school to answer.

Peter takes a quick, shuddering breath.

"Increasing atomic numbers." Peter shakily answers.

The crowd is silent. So silent, you could hear a pin drop.

The judge looked shocked.

"Th-That is correct." She says.

The crowd erupts. Just....  _ erupts. _ Whoops, whistles and shouts burst out from all over the room. A rose is thrown on stage.

"Congratulations, Midtown Tech!" The judge happily says, while Peter's team engulfs him in a huge group hug.

Somewhere in the crowd, Tony is whooping and hollering. He feels pride taking over his entire body. So, he turns to the person closest to him and excitedly yells,

_ "That’s my kid!!!" _

He doesn't think before he says it. He just blurts it out.  _ My kid. _ Tony likes it.

_ My kid. _

It has a nice ring to it.

——

_ you make me happy _

_ when skies are gray _

——

Tony's week had been lonely. Pepper was out on a SI business trip, Rhodey was off doing something for the government, and Peter was at school. So, the only logical thing to do is lock yourself away in a lab (in the dark) and think about all your problems.  _ Right? _

See, that's where it went  _ wrong. _

Because it just happened to be the day that exactly one year ago, Tony and Steve beat each other half to death in Siberia.

So there Tony was, with Cap's shield in his hands. He was staring down at it, while the memories unfolded in his mind. He didn't even notice when the tears started falling down his cheeks.

He hastily wiped them away.  _ Stark men are made of iron, _ his father's voice echoed in his mind.

"Dammit" Tony muttered, as more tears spilled out of his eyes, replacing the old ones.

There was no one at the tower, and there was no one going to be there for a while, so Tony just let himself cry.

Little did he know, that today Peter was supposed to come over for a lab day.

~

"Hello, Peter." The A.I. Said as Peter entered the building.

"Hey Friday!" Peter happily replied. "Where's Mr Stark at?"

"Boss is in the lab, but I do not see it wise to visit him at this time." Friday answered.

"Oh.....why not?" Peter asked with a hint of childlike innocence in his voice.

"He has been in emotional distress since four a.m. this morning."

"What?!" Peter exclaimed. "Well is he okay? What's wrong?"

"According to his behavior today and time of year compared to last year, it appears that this was the exact day that the Avengers broke up a year from today."

"Oh.  _ Oh _ . Oh my god, Friday!"

"Indeed, Mr. Parker." Friday calmly agreed.

"Well, okay, take me up to him." Peter said, trying to keep his voice calm, cool, and collected, like the "mature" teenager that he was.

"Of course." She responded.

Once Peter made it to the lab, it was dark. The only light source was a dimly lit lamp about halfway across the lab. Form where he was standing, Peter could see Tony's silhouette sitting hunched over in his chair. His body was shaking, and Peter could hear the faint sound of crying. The man was holding something, too. It honestly looked like a big dinner plate.

Peter approached him quietly, trying not to startle him. As he got closer, her saw that the dinner plate looking object was actually Cap's shield.

_ Well, _ Peter thought,  _ there's not much difference between Cap's shield and a dinner plate. _

Now, Peter was a couple feet behind Tony. So, Peter did the only thing he knows how to do when someone is crying; give them physical comfort.

He put his hand on Tony's shoulder. Tony glanced up and saw Peter, then returned his glare back to the shield.

Peter then sat down, criss cross applesauce next to Tony, and lay his head on the man’s shoulder.

That's when the dam broke. Tony dropped Cap's shield with a loud clank onto the floor and covered his face with his hands. Peter just closed his eyes and entangled one of his arms with one of Tony's.

He didn't know how long they sat in that position, but Tony's sobs broke down into small sniffles.

Tony took a shuddering breath and looked at Peter. Big, brown doe eyes met his gaze. Tony unwrapped his arm from Peter's and put it around the kid's back, drawing him in closer. Peter did the same.

They stayed like that for a while, just in each other's arms, evening out their breaths. Out of all the shit that happened to Tony today, this was pretty nice. Well, a nice  _ change, _ rather.

Peter broke the silence by gently asking, "You wanna watch Indiana Jones and eat ice cream?"

Tony gave a soft, watery chuckle.

"Nothing would delight me more." He responded. And meant every word. There was nothing he'd rather do then cuddle up with his kid, watch one of his favorite movies, and eat ice cream.

The boys slowly but surely got to their feet, and when Tony was balanced, he drew Peter in for another hug.

He buried his head in Peter's curls, and oh-so-softly whispered, "Thank you, kid."

Peter shifted so he could look tony in the eye. He had a shit-eating grin on his face as he said, "You're welcome,  _ old man." _

Tony's grin stretched across his face. He couldn't help it, even if he tried.

_ God, _ Tony thought,  _ I love this kid. _

——

_ you'll never know dear _

_ how much I love you _

——

It had been a pretty boring night on patrol. Peter helped a lost kid find his parents, rescued a cat out of a tree, gave directions to a few people, and helped an old lady cross the street.

He was currently eating a hot dog, and sitting on the roof of a building, overlooking the city as the sun went down. Peter would never get tired of that view. But, of course, the moment had to be ruined.

"Peter," his A.I., Karen said, "it appears that there is a bank robbery two-point-four miles from your location. Would you like me to set a route to the destination?"

"Yeah, do dat." Peter said behind a mouthful of hot dog that he shoved in.

Peter swung his way over to where the bank robbery was. He took a second to survey the area, and what weapons the crooks had. Three out of four of them had guns, but the other guy had something that looked very familiar to Peter. It looked very similar to the weapons the vulture guy had.

"Hey, Karen," Peter whispered. "Are those the same weapons from Toomes?"

"It appears so. I advise you to continue with great caution. If things go wrong, I will have to contact Mr. Stark." Karen said.

Peter rolls his eyes.  _ Must be another one of his stupid protocols, _ Peter thought.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Tell me, Karen, what is the name of _ that _ protocol?" Peter asked, half annoyed, half amused.

"It is called the 'Give The Spider-Baby A Helping Hand' protocol." She answered with a twinge of mockery in her voice.

Peter huffs a laugh, and quite literally swung into action.

He gracefully dives through the shattered window and lands on the ground behind the robbers.

"What's up, guys? Or guys and girls, not trying to assume genders or anything." Peter teases.

"Hey, stupid bug." One of the robbers, who was definitely a guy says, while cracking his knuckles.

Peter sighs. "I don't know how many times I have to say this. Spiders are  _ arachnids,  _ not  _ bugs." _ Peter smiles underneath his mask. "Go back to first grade, dude."

With that, Peter webs the pistol out of the robber's hands and yeets it out the broken window. He also sends a kick to the same robber's stomach, and webs him to the wall. The two other guys come at him, with bigger guns. So Peter does the same thing: Get the gun out of their hands, yeet it somewhere else, punch or kick them back, and web them the the wall.

That leaves one guy. The guy with the quote literal, 'big guns'. Not only does he have the most dangerous weapon, he's also super buff. At least a foot taller than Peter, and triple the weight, just in muscle. Peter gulps and he comes closer. He can't exactly yeet this gun somewhere else, it'll start rapid firing.

_ Okay. I got this. _ Peter nervously told himself.  _ Same as the other guys. Just get the gun secure, get the buff guy down and web him up with a few extra webs. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. _

He stared his plan. Got the gun secure, and webbed it up so it couldn't fire. 

It was just him versus the big guy. They started hand-to-hand combat. Dodge, punch, dodge, block, kick, dodge. That repeating cycle. 

They were fighting in silence. Peter always thought that was super awkward. So why not bring up some friendly chatter?

"Hey, dude! You been going to the gym? It looks like you've been going to the gym."

Peter got no answer.

"I'll take that as a yes." Peter snarked. "You know, personally, I don't really go to the gym. Get my exercise by taking down baddies. Like you and your little minions for example."

He heard a few distant grumbles from buff guy's minions in the background.

Peter grinned under his mask, and finally planted a hard kick to buff guy's stomach. It sent him flying into the wall where Peter then proceeded to web him up.

Peter paused and looked around at his work. He took a few deep breaths to get his breathing under control and spoke once more.

"Alrighty. Seems like my work here is done. Always a pleasure. Well, not always, I would really appreciate if people like you guys would get the message through your thick skulls that I'm most likely going to stop you when you try to rob a-" Peter didn't get to finish his sentence, when a gun shot rang all around him. His ears rang. His head hurt. He felt dizzy. And warm.  _ Why was he warm? _

Finding the answer to his problem, he looked down to see a pool of blood on his stomach.

_ Well, shit. _ He thought to himself.

He glanced up to where one of the robbers barely held a gun in his hand, but if was still enough leverage to shoot Peter in the stomach.

_"Shut._ _Up.”_ The robber who shot Peter mumbled.

Peter stumbled out the door into a nearby alleyway, holding a hand over the literal hole in his stomach. He sat down with a groan and a grimace. 

"Ugh, K-Karen?" He gasped out.

"Still here, Peter. Don't worry. Mr. Stark is on his way."

"'Kay." Peter mumbled, getting very sleepy for some reason.

"Peter, you need to stay awake."

"Mmph. Jus' lemme sleep for 5 minutes..." Peter trailer off.

The last thing he heard was someone calling his name, as sleep took over his body.

~

Tony was in the lab when Friday notified him.

"Boss, I have a message coming in from Karen. It's about Peter."

Tony's heartbeat sped up.

"What's wrong, is he okay?" Tony was starting to panic. Deep down he has this horrible feeling in his gut.  _ It's fine. _ He told himself.  _ Everything is probably fine. _

But he knew he was most likely lying to himself.

"It appears that Peter was shot in his lower abdomen area. He is experiencing severe blood loss."

"Shit." Now tony was really starting to panic. "Shit, shit, shit,  _ shit.”  _ Tony runs out of the lab. “Friday, get my suit ready, and send his coordinates to it."

"Of course, boss."

~

When Tony finally made it to where Peter was, his heart broke a little at the sight. Peter was curled up in a ball, arms wrapped around his stomach. His face was whiter than snow, and he was sitting in a very large puddle of blood.

The blood coming from his stomach.

Oh god.  _ Oh god. _ There was _ so _ much blood. Tony's breathing picked up as he approached Peter.  _ No.  _ He would not let himself have a panic attack. Not right now.  _ Not when Peter needed him. _

He knelt down to where the teen lay, and ran his shaky hand though Peter's sweaty hair.

"Friday, scan." Tony choked out.

"Mr. Parker is unconscious and has lost a dangerous amount of blood. He has a bullet wound in him-"

"Yeah, no shit, Friday."

"-And needs medical attention immediately."

"Is it safe to move him?" Tony asks.

"Yes, just be careful, boss" Friday answers.

_ Yeah, like I would be anything _ but _ careful. _ Tony tells himself.

He gently picks up Peter and grabs his mask that lay a few feet away.

"Alright, buddy, going up." Tony gently says as his mask closes and repulsors start up.

"Friday, get all power to the thrusters."

"Already done, boss"

His ETA is four minutes. That's not fast enough. That's too long. Peter needs help _ now. _ Not in four minutes.

_ "Dammit _ , Friday, _ go faster!" _ Tony hisses.

"I'm sorry, boss. This is as fast you are able to go. Your ETA is now three minutes and twenty-four seconds."

Tony mutters another string of colorful language.

After the longest three minutes of Tony’s life, they finally arrive at the tower, and Tony breaths a tiny, itty-bitty sigh of relief.

The elevator takes them straight down to Med-Bay, where Helen Cho and her team are waiting.

"Tony!" Helen calls out. "Bring him over here!"

Tony does what she says and jogs over to where a stretcher sits. Tony is hesitant to put Peter down. He knows if he does, he won't be able to stick to Peter's side and be there for him while he's in surgery. But Tony knows if he wants his kid to live he needs to lay him on the stretcher.

So why was it so  _ damn _ hard to do it?!

"Tony," Helen gently says, "He's in very good care. Let us help him."

Tony gives a shaky nod and lays Peter on the stretcher. He runs his fingers through his hair and plant a soft kiss to Peter's forehead. Helen gives him a small reassuring smile before the doctors whisk him away from Tony. He's left standing there, processing everything that just happened. He looks down at his hands to find dried blood.

_ Peter's blood. _

Tony feels his whole world spinning. He feels like he's going to pass out. He stumbles over to a couch and plops down, taking in a long, shaky breath. Just then, Rhodey walks in, and he must have known what happened, because he walked over to Tony, wrapped him in a hug, and quietly murmured, "He's going to be alright, Tones."

Tony pulled away from the hug, tears in his eyes.

"I- I can't lose him, Rhodey.  _ I can't." _ Tony whispers, voice breaking.

Rhodey places a supporting hand on Tony's shoulder. Gentle, but strong.

"And you're not going to, Tones. You're not going to lose him." He looks Tony in the eye. "That kid is  _ strong, _ and too damn stubborn to die. He'll be okay. You both will." Rhodey gives him a kind smile, and Tony returns a small, grateful one. "You should probably take a shower. Freshen up, get to smelling better, because  _ man _ , you stink." Rhodey teases.

Tony gives a small chuckle and nods in agreement. He should wash Peter's blood off of his hands. He knows Rhodey didn't dare say it, but Tony knew what his best friend meant.

So he heads to the shower, and finally allows himself to break. Tears come streaming down his face and he can't help the sobs that come out. He cries for about 30 minutes, letting everything out.

Stepping out of the shower, he does feel a tad bit better after crying his eyes out while hot water ran down his back. He makes his way back to Med-Bay, hoping for Helen to stroll right out the second he gets there and tell him that Peter is perfectly fine and that everything's okay. But that's not what happened. Instead, Tony sits in the waiting room for what seems like forever. At one point, Rhodey brought him some food, and gave him another hug, but that's it. It's been 4 hours and 37 minutes since Peter went into surgery. 

Not like Tony's counting, or anything. 

But suddenly the door to the surgery room opens, and out walks a very tired looking Helen Cho. She strolls over to Tony and sits down, a long sigh escaping her lips. She looks up at Tony and softly says "I'm not going to lie to you, Tony." Tony gulps. "He's okay, but he did get pretty hurt. He lost.... a lot of blood, and that put him into shock, which caused him to pass out." She sighs again. "We lost him once on the operating table." She admits. Tony world pauses.

Peter had died. He died. His kid  _ died. _

He couldn't help the horrified look that came over his face. Helen is quick to reassure him. "But we got him back very quickly. I gotta say, he's a fighter. Stronger than he looks. And his healing factor is incredible." Tony nods in agreement. Helen gently lay her hand on Tony's arm. "He'll be okay." She says with a small, kind smile.

Tony gives a small nod and chokes out, "Can I see him?"

"Of course." She responds.

She leads tony into the room where Peter lays. Tony's heart clenches at the sight. Peter has tubes sticking out of his body, almost everywhere. He has blood all over him, even in his hair. He's so pale it looks like he's seen a ghost. But the thing that really makes Tony want to throw up, are the clear tear tracks down his cheeks.

_ He's too young for this. He has his whole life ahead of him. He's just a kid. _

_ He's my kid. _

"I'll leave you to it." Helen quietly says before exiting the room.

Tony approaches Peter's bedside. He heavily sits down on a chair to the right and sighs. He notices Peter's hand, laying limply to the right of his body. Tony reaches his hand up and covers Peter's hand with his. The kid's hand is soft, but ice cold. And very limp. When Tony gives a gentle squeeze to it, his hand doesn't even twitch. That's not like the kid. That's not like his kid. Tony's kid was always moving, always full of energy, always full of  _ life. _

But it's silly to think that. Peter's alive. He's still full of life. He's just... asleep. And non-responsive. And practically dead.

Tony vigorously shakes his head, to get rid of that last thought.

Tears clog his vision once again. He's lost track of how many times he's done that today. But he refuses to let them fall. He has to be strong for Peter. Awake or not, has to make sure Peter knows everything's  _ okay. _ He lowers his head down into his free hand and hold it there.

He gives a quiet chuckle, bringing his head up to look at Peter again.

"Damn, kid." He quietly murmurs. "You just had to latch your sticky spider fingers on to my heart and not let go, huh?" He asks, mainly to himself. As much as Tony wasn't expecting an answer, he was really hoping Peter would wake up at that exact moment and say something like, "Jeez, can't let me sleep for five minutes, can you?" But nothing. No laugh. No smile. Not even a smirk. And that's the part that killed Tony. Peter would smile at anything and everything. Always so happy and kind. Tony needed that kid back.

"Well, I'll let you get your beauty sleep, but not for too long, okay?" Tony asks, voice breaking. "Wake up, real soon. Or I'm gonna ground your spider-ass for the rest of your life."

He presses a light kiss to Peter's forehead, and squeezes his hand once more.

About 5 minutes later, Rhodey drags him up to sleep.

Yeah, right. Like tony was going to sleep. Tony's current version of sleep was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about one thing, and one thing only.

_ Peter. _

He tried to fight when his eyes started to droop, but he was just so tired.

He thought about Peter again.

And that was his final thought before sleep engulfed his body.

~

Tony awoke to birds chirping and sunlight streaming in through the windows.

He checked the time. Seven-fifteen.

He blinked. He blinked again, remembering all the events that happened yesterday night. He licked his dry lips and swallowed to relieve his dry throat.

Coffee.

He desperately needed coffee.

He desperately needed Peter.

Was it selfish to need both so badly?

_ Nah. _

With that, he got up with a groan, and a couple hip pops, (because old age's a bitch) and made his way to the kitchen.

Luckily Friday read his mind and already started a pot for him. He poured his coffee and took a big gulp, and started to make his way down to Med-Bay, really hoping for some good news.

What he sees when he walks in causes him to drop his coffee, shards of the mug scattering all over the floor.

Because there Peter lays, sitting up, wide awake.

The teen jerks his head up at the sudden noise, locking eyes with Tony.

"Oh, hey, Mr. Stark!" He happily says.

Tony doesn't think. He races over, and engulfs Peter into a hug. One arm wraps around the boy protectively, the other cradles his head. He holds tight, not wanting to let go. Not now, not ever.

"Don't ever do that again, kid." He hoarsely whispers, tears already forming in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Peter mumbles into Tony's shirt. "I didn't mean to, I swear."

"I know."

They break apart, Tony blinking back his tears. He sits on the edge of the bed, careful not to squish the kid. Making eye contact with Peter, he gives a small chuckle.

"You scared the shit outta me, Pete."

Peter looks at his hands laying on the bed. "I really am sorry."

Tony gives a small sympathetic smile, as if he was saying 'I know, kiddo' and stands up.

"Scoot." He says.

"What?" Peter asks.

"Scoot over."

Peter does so, and Tony slides in, wrapping one arm around him. Peter immediately melts into the touch, and adjusts to where he's comfortable in the crook of Tony's arm.

He gives Peter a fond smile before softly saying; "Get some sleep, bud."

Five minutes pass and Peter's eyelids start to droop. One minute later, he's fast asleep, soft snores escaping his lips. Another fond smile comes across Tony's face, as he plants a gentle kiss onto Peter's soft curls.

_ I love you, kid. _ Tony thinks before he, too, slips into the welcoming darkness of sleep.

——

_ please don't take _

_ my sunshine _

_ away _

——

They lost.

_ They lost. _

The purple grape dickhead disappeared and took the time stone with him. The stone that Tony had pleaded the magician not to give away.

_ I'm not worth it. _

Tony stood where Peter had just helped him up, just looking at the damage. Debris everywhere, some small fires, and shards from broken weapons, and suit pieces scattered around.

Then he looked at his supposed "team". A magician, a kid too young and innocent to be fighting wars, a blue robo-chick, a creepy girl with antennas, a shirtless Mr. Clean rip off, and an annoying dumbass from Missouri. All were bruised and battered. And they were all defeated. Because they had all lost. And they were about to pay the price.

Out of the quiet of the atmosphere, Mantis speaks up, tucked under Quill's arm for support, her voice quiet and frightened.

"Something's happening..." She trailed off, eyes wide.

Tony takes a step forward, but her body began to disintegrate into nothing but ash, blowing away into the wind.

Quill looked panicked and shocked. He turns around to look at Drax, seeing that he too is turning to dust.

_ What the hell is happening? _ Tony thought.

"Quill?" Drax asks, voice shaky, hoping for reassurance.

Quill has no time to reassure him before Drax blows away like Mantis has did moments before.

Quill takes in a sharp breath.

"Steady, Quill." Tony tries to reassure and comfort him, for they both knew what was about to happen.

And it did.

"Oh, man." He breathed out, and turned to dust as well. 

Tony could feel his heart pounding in his chest, as well as his breathing speeding up.

"Tony." Strange called out. The man turned around to face him.

"There was no other way." He spoke, voice firm, but Tony could see the fear in his eyes.

They broke eye contact. A second passed. And then another. Maybe Strange would be safe after all.

He wasn't.

As he looked at the ground, he did exactly as the others had before, and was gone, the wind taking his ash away.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter called out.

_ No. _

_ Nononono- _

_ Please no, not him. _

_ Anyone but him. _

_ Please. _

But the universe had other ideas than to listen to Tony's pleads.

Tony turned around. Hoping, praying for Peter not to be going too.

He saw Peter holding his hands around his stomach. He was pale. His eyes big, and fearful. Eyes that were usually full of such life, were now full of such fear.

"I don't feel so good..." He swayed on his feet, while looking at his hands and his body, beginning to turn to dust, but not as quickly as the others. Peter had a healing factor. 

_ They still had more time. _

_ But not enough. _

"You're alright." Tony reassured, trying to keep his voice steady, but was struggling. His kid was  _ dying. _ And there was nothing he could do about it.

Peter takes a step towards the man. legs shaking. He glances back down at his hands. They were going too.

"I don- I don't know what's happening- I don't kno- save me- save me!" Peter pleaded.

While attempting to walk towards his mentor, his legs were turning to dust, causing Tony to catch his weight.

Peter slammed into Tony, grabbing onto the man, needing support. He gripped Tony's shoulder. And his tears started falling.

_ Oh god, please no, not this kid, not my kid _ . Tony thought.

"I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, Mr Stark, please! Please! I don't wanna go, _ I don't wanna go!" _ Peter cried, face buried in Tony's shoulder.

Tony, no longer being able to support Peter's body weight plus his own, lowers Peter to the ground, landing with a 'thud'.

Peter's arms disintegrate, no longer holding onto Tony. But Tony still holds onto Peter.

Peter's looking up in the sky. But Tony's staring directly at his face. Then they make eye contact. Tears are in both of their eyes.

_ No, please, kid, please. Don't go. I need you. Please. _

"I'm sorry." Peter whispers.

He averts his gaze back to the sky, as the rest of his body turns to ash. Tony falls forward, no longer supported by Peter's body.

His hand slams forward, right into Peter's remains. Tony sits up, and looks at his hand. It was dirty and dusty. But there was dust on it.  _ Peter's dust. _

From somewhere behind him, Nebula speaks.

"He did it." Her hoarse, dry voice fills his ears. She was right. Thanos did it.

Tony folds his hands down. His tears started pouring out.

_ I lost the kid. He's gone. _

_ I never told him I loved him. _

_ I never told him I thought of him as my son. _

_ And now he'll never know. _

_ He's gone. _

_ My kid is dead. And it's all my fault. _

He sobs. Resting his chin on his hands, he smells and tastes blood. He doesn't care. He sobs, unable to control it, even if he tried.

So many emotions were whirling around inside him.

_ Guilt. _

_ Sadness. _

_ Anger. _

_ Regret. _

_ Fear. _

He's taken it for granted. All his time with Peter, he should have cherished. All the lab days, the movie nights,  _ everything _ . All taken for granted.

Peter was the only thing that kept him going, that made him want to be better. Peter was the missing puzzle piece in Tony's life.

And Tony just lost a part of himself.

So he cried.

And cried.

And cried.

Thanos may have killed half the universe, but he'd taken all of Tony's.

Because to the world, you might just be a person. But to one person, you might just be the world.

**Author's Note:**

> If you’re reading this right now, thank you, thank you, thank you. This is my first fic, and I’m really new to ao3, so if you made it this far, THANK YOU!!!!!!


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